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Last month we told you about our long weekend trip to St. Louis and our first day’s adventures. That Friday was just the warm-up, Saturday was the marathon.
After breakfast we headed to the LaSalle Park neighborhood and 4 Hands Brewing Company taproom, hoping to catch the first tour of the day. Opening time was Noon, but the door was open at 11:40 when we arrived and they were happy to let us come in and poured us a pint. They were a friendly bunch and were curious about the current state of beer in Nashville. I started with their seasonal Chocolate Milk Stout (I never pass up a milk stout) and June tried the Single Speed Session Ale to start. Then we got a sampler of the rest, and really enjoyed the Divided Sky IPA and Oatmeal Brown. 4 Hands also brews the PiPA, which we had the night before, it’s only available at Pi Pizza. If we lived in STL, this would be a place we’d hang out at a lot! It was one of those taprooms that had the perfect combination of a fun environment, good beer people and delicious brews.
Next up we headed south to Perennial Artisan Ales, which was founded in 2011 and is one of the most interesting breweries in STL. They are brewing up unusual and innovative beers, as you would expect from a brewery with “Artisan Ales” in the name. This one was June’s favorite, and I loved it too. We had the beer sampler and we’ll let their descriptions speak for themselves.
- Saison de Lis, saison with Chamomile flowers.
- Hommel Bier, a dry hopped Belgian Pale Ale.
- Aria, a brettanomyces Belgian ale.
- Tart Hopfentea, a Berliner Weisse infused with tropical tea.
- Midnight Rambler, a rich Belgian Stout.
- Abraxas, an Imperial Stout with Cacao Nibs, Ancho Chiles, Vanilla Beans & Cinnamon Sticks.
If you guessed those were amazing beers, you’d be right. Perennial Artisan Ales is a little out of the way if you’re in downtown STL, but well worth the drive!
By then it was middle of the afternoon and we needed lunch, so we headed back to midtown STL to Six Row Brewing. I knew we were in for a good time as we walked through the door and were greeted by a blast from the past, the Falstaff logo. This brew-pub is located in the old Falstaff Brewing Employee Cafeteria & Pub. The menu was typical pub fare, but the quality was not typical and everything we had was delicious. I recommend starting with the Buffalo Chicken Nachos then move on to the Mac & Cheese, and don’t forgot to add the bacon. I started off with their Whale, a wheat American pale ale. June had the Honey Weizen. If you like hops, we can recommend both the Double IPA and Red Snout IPA, however we believe the Red Snout was a seasonal so it might be gone now. We shared a Vanilla Porter for dessert then closed it out with a big Russian Imperial Stout. Good beer and good food. A great lunch stop if you’re in the middle of St. Louis.
Three breweries down, one to go. We had a lot of beer and food and were starting to feel sleepy, but we soldiered on! We made a coffee run to the closest Starbucks for a jolt of caffeine. As that was kicking in, we headed south to Civil Life in the Tower Grove area. The taproom had the feel of an old world pub, with a dash of hipster thrown in. The beers matched the taproom, old world classics, your typical English Ales and German Lagers. I started with a perfectly cask-conditioned English Bitter. It was everything you want a good English cask ale to be, plus the American hops gave it an interesting twist. Next I tried a tasty Vienna Lager, a style you don’t find a lot at small breweries. June had the Rye Pale Ale and you could really pick up the bold rye spiciness, which is about 20% of the grain bill. All the Civil Life beers were delicious. We didn’t get to try them all and definitely want to visit again on our next STL trip.
It was early in the evening and we decided we weren’t done yet, so we headed downtown for appetizers and beers at Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar. Bridge is another one of the Baileys’ restaurants, focusing on top-notch beer and wine. (See our last STL post about the Bailey’s Chocolate Bar we hit on Friday night.) Bridge had an impressive list of 55 taps and about 150+ bottles. The beers were exceptional and the appetizers were delicious. Another must-visit spot on your STL trip.
We had a blast all day and were thoroughly exhausted. We had one more day left, but crammed as much into Saturday as we could. Every brewery we visited was unique and each had its own beer personality. The only thing they had in common was they were all making good beer and were great places to visit. We loved them all, but each for a different reason.
We’ll tell you about our Sunday in STL next time, including more Schlafly. Until then, cheers!